Antioxidant Activity Phenolics Flavonoids and Proanthocyanidins Content of Senecio anteuphorbium

Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Senecio anteuphorbium and to determine total phenolics, flavonoids and proanthocyanidins content of this plant from Southern Anti-Atlas of Morocco. Moreover the effect of solvent and heat was also investigated.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of biology, laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty of Sciences, University Hassan II, between August 2013 and November 2013.

Methodology: Senecio anteuphorbium were subjected to a decoction, maceration (with both water and methanol) and soxhlet extraction. Ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging tests were used to evaluate antioxidant activity. Folin- Ciocalteau reagent serves to determine total phenolic content, aluminium trichloride method for flavonoids and a mixture of vanillin and hydrochloric acid for proanthocyanidins; employing colorimetric method.

Results: Results obtained revealed that Senecio anteuphorbium possesses a high antioxidant capacity that has a positive correlation with quantified phytochemicals (R2=0.96/0.9/0.81). Polyphenols ranged from 21.53±1.03mg GAE/ gE or 20.38±0.76 mg TAE/gE to 2.46±0.11 GAE/ gE or 2.33±0.09mg TAE/gE, flavonoids registered the highest amount: 39.47±1.01mg RE/gE or 26.59±0.24mg QE/gE, followed by proanthocyanidins: 36.66 ±1.26 mgCE/gE. In addition when methanol is combined with temperature (80ºC), it seems to be the appropriate method to extract antioxidant compounds.

Conclusion: The present results reveal that Senecio anteuphorbium is a potent source of natural antioxidants, containing a mixture of phenolic, flavonoid and proanthocyanidin compounds that could have a great importance as therapeutic agents in preventing oxidative damages.